Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT)

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Features Fall Colors · Lake · River/Creek · Spring · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

The LOViT along the southern shore of Arkansas' Lake Ouachita is a great trail for hikers, runners, and mountain bikers of all levels. Multiple trailheads and good access to amenities in all but its most remote areas lend the LOViT to great runs with easily customizable distances and difficulties. Located in its entirety in the Ouachita National Forest, with views of Lake Ouachita and beautiful valleys along mountain streams, the LOViT is a terrific getaway.

The LOViT "Traildogs", sponsored in part by Friends of Lake Ouachita in conjunction with the Lake Ouachita Citizen Focus Committee, furnish a website featuring descriptions of the various trail segments that run between named trailheads ("The Trails"), including downloadable maps of the trail and information about the location of the trailheads and amenities in the area ("The Big Picture"). Visit lakeouachitavistatrail.org for more information.

The Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (“LOViT”) is an unsurfaced running and mountain biking trail winding along the southern shore of Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita. Developed by volunteers in cooperation with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Forest Service, the trail (including spurs) extends about 45 miles along the shore, connecting private resorts and public campgrounds, including Ouachita Shores Resort, Shangri-La Resort, Mountain Harbor Resort, Crystal Springs Resort, Brady Mountain Resort, and Echo Canyon Resort before finally reaching its easternmost terminus at the Avery Recreation Area below Blakely Mountain Dam near Hot Springs, AR. Parking is provided at each trailhead.

The trail rises 900 feet from the Denby trailhead to the top of Hickory Nut Mountain and then on to Little Bear Creek at the foot of Bear Mountain, where one enjoys another 1200 foot climb across Bear Mountain to Brady Mountain Resort, followed by a final 1000 foot climb across Brady Mountain. Runners travel up, down, and along mountain slopes through mixed hardwood and pine forests opening up at several places to breathtaking views of Lake Ouachita. Beautiful displays of wildflowers and tumbling waterfalls await during spring and summer months.

A history of the LOViT can be viewed on its website.